Johnny Sexton v France is one of the Six Nations' most enduring sub-plots

Is there any relationship in sport quite like Johnny Sexton and France?

o player comes under such scrutiny from the opposition like the Ireland captain who spent two years playing in Paris and has faced Les Bleus 12 times in his storied career.

His greatest game was against France in 2014, his greatest moment four years later; but the moments when he has faced the most public scrutiny have also come in this fixture, whether it’s medics overstepping the mark with their public pronouncements about his brain health, opponents warning him to wear a helmet or his own conduct being called into question.

Saturday will likely be his final go in the Six Nations at the French and, having missed the 2021 and 2022 defeats, he’s relishing the task.

The build-up, he acknowledged yesterday, has been suspiciously quiet.

“Often for me something comes out of the woodwork in French week and I’m expecting something later in the week,” he said.

“It’s always a big game; I grew up in an era of watching Ireland lose to France, heavily, to then sort of see the first teams beating them and then to be part of teams beating them has been amazing.

​“But you still have those memories from a young kid of France coming and demolishing Ireland. You probably naturally feel the underdog at my age, whereas the younger lads probably don’t.”

His relationship with France is deepened by his time living there with his wife Laura, trying to shape a Racing Metro side that wouldn’t bend to his will.

They celebrated milestones together there and the birth of their son Luca will forever tie them to the city, even if what has followed has sometimes soured his feelings to the place.

“From my point of view, I had a great couple of years there,” he recalled. “I’ve got some great friends there, my son was born there so for me, it’s fond memories. It’s these weeks that things go the other way from the other side. Hopefully, it won’t this week but we’ll wait and see.

“But no, it hasn’t soured it.

“I have great memories of living there and loved the country. I always think it’s a great challenge playing against them. Their supporters are fantastic, they’ll travel well at the weekend I’m sure, like ours did last week.”

His stint lasted just two seasons before he returned home to Leinster, but he learnt a lot about the French psyche from his time playing in the Top 14.

“Big time,” he said. “It was slightly different for me in Racing.

“We used to enjoy the away games because the atmosphere was incredible, whereas our home games, at the time we used to play in Colombes.

“I don’t know if you remember that stadium but I was told we were only going to be there for six months in my first year of my contract and then we were going to the new one.

“So we used to love playing away but again, the team selections and stuff like that, they viewed the Top 14 as a marathon, not a sprint.

“They planned for the end, they did enough to get into the top six so a little bit of psyche there. But how much it means to them to play at home, all those type of things.

“There were a lot of foreign people there when I was there so I probably didn’t pick the true French psyche,” added Sexton.

“I obviously had French coaches and they were good. They did get a little bit emotional at times, so I kind of got on well with them.

“But I had a great couple of years there. Off the field, rugby-wise, I probably got to a team who were in a little bit of transition, like I’ve said previously, which frustrated me because I’d obviously left the best club in Europe at the time, but I had some great years and I learned a lot.”

While he won two Six Nations with Ireland during his time in France, it could be argued that his club career stalled at Racing.

He might have once agreed with that statement, but now he’s more reflective on the benefits.

“I didn’t think at the time but I remember meeting up with (ex-Leinster coach) Matt O’Connor for a coffee just before I came back and he thought it did benefit my game because I had to figure out how to try and win games differently with a team that probably wasn’t as good at playing rugby as Leinster used to play or as organised, and I had to figure out a way,” he said.

“I think in hindsight he was probably right. Matt was a very intelligent rugby guy and yes, I probably did learn a lot. I learned a lot culturally, like what not to do.

“I learned a lot about myself in terms of leadership, more so in what not to do.

“So yeah, lots of lessons in my time there.”

Some of those have fed into the way he leads Ireland nearly a decade later.

“Before I signed, I had some meetings with the president, and he said: ‘I want you to change the culture and I want you to bring a winning mentality’,” said Sexton.

“I went in all guns blazing and figured out that there wasn’t that many people there to do the same thing, whereas I should have gone back and tried to make friends first and build relationships, and it stood to me now.

“When there are new guys coming into the environment here you need to build relationships with people and Andy (Farrell) is big on that.

“So it was a good eye-opener for me,” he concluded.

The final chapter of this tumultuous story, from a Six Nations point of view at least, looms large.

It’s bound to be compelling.

Johnny v Les Bleus

2010: France 33 Ireland 10 – Sexton replaces Ronan O’Gara with the result long decided.
2011: Ireland 22 France 25 – Sexton starts and scores five points, but is replaced by O’Gara early in the second-half as Ireland come up short.
2011: Ireland 22 France 26 – Sexton starts and scores a try in a World Cup warm-up defeat.
2012: France 17 Ireland 17 – Goes the 80 as Ireland earn a rare draw in Paris in a refixed game.
2014: France 20 Ireland 22 – Now living in Paris having signed for Racing Metro, Sexton gives one of his greatest performances, scoring two tries in a win that earns Ireland the Six Nations title. He’s forced off with a concussion after a thundering hit from Mathieu Bastareaud.
2015: Ireland 18 France 11 – Having been stood down by French doctors over successive concussions, Sexton returns and leads his side to an important win en route to the Championship. The game wasn’t without incident, with Sexton forced off for a HIA after more treatment from Bastareaud.
2015: France 9 Ireland 24 – In the build-up to a tumultuous World Cup pool decider, the French players taunted Sexton warning him he’d have to wear a helmet. He was hit hard and late by Louis Picamoles and forced out of the tournament.
2016: France 10 Ireland 9 – Sexton comes in for yet more late hits as he kicks Ireland into a 9-3 lead, only for Maxime Médard to win a brutal game with 10 minutes remaining.
2017: Ireland 19 France 9 – As comfortable as it gets for Sexton who returned from a calf injury and kicked Ireland to a good win, including a drop-goal for good measure.
2018: France 13 Ireland 15 – Sexton’s greatest moment. Le drop. What more is there to say?
2019: Ireland 26 France 14 – Sexton scores a beautiful wraparound try en route to a fine win.
2020: France 35 Ireland 27 – An unhappy outing in an empty Stade de France as the Six Nations title ebbed away and Sexton reacted badly to being replaced by Ross Byrne as Irish hopes were fading.
2021 and 2022: Sexton didn’t play in either defeat, but that didn’t stop him being a central figure in the build-up with a French neuroscientist questioning his involvement in 2021; causing the Ireland captain to say he was “shocked and saddened” by his former doctor’s remarks. A year later, he was ruled out with a hamstring.
2023: Sexton is back to lead Ireland in what is likely to be the final chapter in his Six Nations story with France – although they may meet again at the World Cup.